INDEPENDENT ASSESSMENTS OF THE FISHERY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

In 1995, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) adopted the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (CCRF). The CCRF prescribes what states need to have in place to be capable of developing and managing responsible fisheries. The CCRF is an international agreement and can be used as an evaluation tool for the management, operations, integration with coastal area management, trade and fishery research criteria. The CCRF was put to practical use as an evaluation tool for the Hawaii-based pelagic longline fishery in late 2006 and again in 2008 after the 2006 reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and changes in the regional fishery management through the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission. In 2007, the Hawaii longline fishery was presented by the FAO FishCode Unit as one of the few models for the application of the CCRF. The pelagic longline fishery in American Samoa was evaluated against the CCRF in 2009. Also in 2009, a Marine Stewardship Council Pre-Assessment evaluation of the Hawaii swordfish and bigeye tuna longline fisheries was prepared.

American Samoa’s pelagic longline fishery is undergoing responsible development as defined by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (Code). The Code is the global standard for how nations should develop and manage responsible fisheries. While aspects of the Code are achieved in many fishery management systems, very few fisheries have actually been assessed against the provisions of the Code in a comprehensive manner. The American Samoa fishery was assessed in 2009 using the provisions of the Code as a scoring system. The methodology and the set of questions were designed to elicit detailed information on the fishery, remaining consistent with the language and intent of the detailed provisions of the Code. The fishery evaluation followed the approach demonstrated in the 2006 and 2008 Responsible Fisheries Assessments (RFA) of the Hawaii longline fisheries. The RFA process applies FAO’s internationally-accepted set of criteria which define a responsible fishery managed for sustainability. This comprehensive approach translates the detailed provisions of the Code into questions about compliance that can be answered either “yes, no or some level of compliance” with corresponding scores of 1, 0 or 0.5 points. A total of 283 questions from within 5 prescriptive and applicable Articles of the Code were addressed. The 2009 RFA of the American Samoa longline fishery resulted in a cumulative score of 92.6% compliance (262 of 283 points) with the pertinent Articles of the Code. These include Article 7 Fishery Management (94.3% or 107.5 of 114 points), Article 8 Fishing Operations (92% or 69 of 75 points), Article 10 Integration with Coastal Area Management (88.1% or 18.5 of 21 points), Article 11 Post–harvest Practices and Trade (91.3% or 36.5 of 40 points) and Article 12 Fisheries Research (92.4% or 30.5 of 33 points).

The Hawaii longline fisheries were assessed using the provisions of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (Code) as a scoring system. The Hawaii longline fisheries were the first in the United States to have been fully assessed and scored against Articles of the Code relevant to wild capture fisheries in 2006. The 2008 RFA was done to document significant changes in the domestic and international fishery management framework resulting primarily from the re-authorized Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and development of the Western and Central Pacific Fishery Commission. The 2008 RFA of the Hawaii longline fisheries resulted in a cumulative score of 94% compliance (266 of 283 points) with the prescriptive and applicable Articles of the Code. These include Article 7 Fishery Management (96% or 110 of 114 points), Article 8 Fishing Operations (93% or 70 of 75 points), Article 10 Integration with Coastal Area Management (83% or 17.5 of 21 points), Article 11 Post–harvest Practices and Trade (95% or 38 of 40 points) and Article 12 Fisheries Research (92% or 30.5 of 33 points). The 2008 RFA results demonstrate the practical application of the Code for monitoring progress in a fishery towards compliance. The RFA process has value as a means of comprehensively applying FAO’s internationally-accepted set of criteria which define a responsible fishery managed for sustainability.

Although the 1995 FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (the Code) is not a legally binding instrument, it represents a consensus between countries as to the features that should characterize systems designed to ensure sustainable use of fishery resources. This report provides a series of questionnaires corresponding as closely as possible to clauses from Articles 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 of the Code, which can form the basis for a practical method of evaluating compliance of national or local fisheries with its provisions. The general questionnaire approach parallels the procedures used by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and provides a way of converting statements of principle in a global instrument including a legal framework, into a semi-quantitative form that can be more easily used in a multidisciplinary fisheries evaluation of management performance. Emphasis is placed on displaying the results of questionnaires in an easily understandable form and how these may be incorporated into decision-making. Approaches that could be used in operationalizing the Code are discussed, using examples where the Code has been applied in questionnaire form for evaluating fisheries objectives described by its different Articles. Other assessment approaches used for related purposes are included for reference. For example, protocols are suggested for evaluating performance in relation to ecosystem management, fisheries co-management and stock recovery strategies, based on the FAO Technical Guidelines for the Code, workshop experience and the fisheries literature. Different formats and procedures are provided, and some of the problems encountered are described. The use of questionnaires to promote adherence to the Code’s provisions are discussed using several practical applications. The focus is mainly on applications of the Code at the grassroots level by local fisheries management authorities operating within national fisheries jurisdictions.

The Hawaii longline fisheries were assessed using the provisions of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (Code) as a scoring system. The 2006 Responsible Fisheries Assessment (RFA) is the most comprehensive application of the Code for the assessment of a pelagic longline fishery according to the FAO. The Hawaii longline fisheries are the first in the United States to have been fully assessed and scored against Articles of the Code relevant to wild capture fisheries. The 2006 RFA of the Hawaii longline fisheries resulted in a cumulative score of 93% compliance (262 of 282 points) with the prescriptive and applicable Articles of the Code. These include Article 7 Fishery Management (96% or 109 of 113 points), Article 8 Fishing Operations (93% or 70 of 75 points), Article 10 Integration with Coastal Area Management (71% or 15 of 21 points), Article 11 Post–harvest Practices and Trade (95% or 38 of 40 points) and Article 12 Fisheries Research (91% or 30 of 33 points). The draft 2008 RFA results demonstrate the practical application of the Code for monitoring progress in a fishery towards compliance. The RFA process has value as a means of comprehensively applying FAO’s internationally-accepted set of criteria which define a responsible fishery managed for sustainability.

An MSC pre-assessment evaluation was completed in November 2009 on the Hawaii longline fisheries targeting bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus) and swordfish (Xiphias gladius) in the Hawaii-US EEZ and in the international waters of the Western and Central Pacific Ocean. The pre-assessment was performed by TAVEL Certification on behalf of the Hawaii Longline Association and the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership. The pre-assessment report findings are proprietary, remain confidential and not currently available to the public.